Parched throats here have nothing to ‘tap’ into

The water contamination at Vivekananda Colony threatens to make a Bholakpur of the place, what with locals desisting from collecting water from taps for fear of falling sick.

Is Vivekananda Colony going the Bholakpur way? Given the level of water contamination here, residents here are facing a precarious situation. Since the last few days they have stopped collecting water from taps for fear of falling sick.

With the HMWSSB failing to provide safe water, residents are forced to depend on private water tankers to quench their thirst and for domestic needs.

Black and foul-smelling

“It’s been 10 days since we got water. Last time we were supplied water which was black and foul smelling. Forget consuming it, most would not even believe it to be water,” fumes G.S. Kailasam, president of Vivekananda Colony Residents Welfare Association.

Over 2,000 people live in the colony, which is behind Mehdipatnam Rythu Bazar and replete with educational institutes, residential apartments and other organisations.

“It has been the case since August 2012. I complained five times, including during the Dial Your MD programme and yet the problem persists,” says Mohammed Omair, pointing to a bottle filled with contaminated water. Many residents, particularly the elderly and children, are falling sick due to water contamination, adds Mateen, another resident.

The problem lies in the pipeline network which was laid in 1962. Both drainage pipelines and drinking water lines are laid very close to each other.

Drainage lines

Admitting the problem, local Corporator B. Prakash alleges that hotels dotted along the Mehdipatnam bus stop road discharge all the wastes directly into the drainage lines.

Most hotels here use vanaspati for cooking dishes and after use dump the oil directly into the drainage, resulting in blocking of pipes, he explains. HWMSSB Division III General Manager P. Ravi says repair works are already being taken up.

Efforts are on to shift drinking water pipelines and ensure a gap between drainage pipelines and drinking water pipes. Works would be completed in another 10 days and till then water would be supplied through tankers. This apart, all hotels dumping trash into drainage pipelines are being served with notices, he adds.

Slideshow

Traffic got disrupted and main thoroughfares turned into canals due to a sudden unseasonal downpour in Hyderabad on Monday afternoon. The Hindu lensman Mohammed Yousuf captures the travails of commuters.